232 research outputs found
Experimental study of the competition between Kondo and RKKY interactions for Mn spins in a model alloy system
The quasicrystal Al-Pd-Mn is a model system for an experimental study of the
competition between Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yoshida (RKKY) and Kondo
interactions. First, specific of such alloys, only a few Mn atoms carry an
effective spin and their concentration x is tunable over several orders of
magnitude, even though the Mn amount is almost constant. Second, the
characteristic energy scales for the interactions lie in the Kelvin range.
Hence we could study the magnetization on both side of these energy scales,
covering a range of temperatures [0.1-100 K] and magnetic fields (mu_B H/k_B= 0
to 5 K) for 22 samples and x varying over 2 decades. Using very general Kondo
physics arguments, and thus carrying out the data analysis with no preconceived
model, we found a very robust and simple result: The magnetization is a sum of
a pure Kondo (T_K=3.35K) and a pure RKKY contributions, whatever the moment
concentration is and this surprisingly up to the concentration where the RKKY
couplings dominate fully and thus cannot be considered as a perturbation.Comment: 18 pages, 18 figure
Endogenous calcium in sickle cells does not activate polyphosphoinositide phospholipase C
Supraconductivité en dessous de 120 K de nouveaux composés au thallium
Des échantillons de la phase Tl2Ba2CaCu2O8 bien cristallisée ont été observés supraconducteurs ou normaux en dessous de 108 K suivant leur stoechiométrie. Cette observation montre que la valence mixte (CuII-O-) induite par les lacunes ou les substitutions sur les différents sites accroît la supraconductivité de cette phase. La nouvelle phase TlBa2Ca2Cu3O9, qui contient intrinsèquement une valence mixte, a été observée, en effet Meissner, supraconductrice en volume avec une transition étroite à 120 K
Heat Transport and the Nature of the Order Parameter in Superconducting
Recent thermal conductivity data on the heavy fermion superconductor
have been interpreted as offering support for an model of the order
parameter as opposed to an model. In this paper, we analyze this issue
from a theoretical standpoint including the detailed effects of Fermi surface
and gap anisotropy. Our conclusion is that although current data put strong
constraints on the gap anisotropy, they cannot definitively distinguish between
these two models. Measurements on samples of varying quality could be decisive
in this regard, however.Comment: 8 pages, revtex, 15 uunencoded postscript figure
On the thermoelectricity of correlated electrons in the zero-temperature limit
The Seebeck coefficient of a metal is expected to display a linear
temperature-dependence in the zero-temperature limit. To attain this regime, it
is often necessary to cool the system well below 1K. We put under scrutiny the
magnitude of this term in different families of strongly-interacting electronic
systems. For a wide range of compounds (including heavy-fermion, organic and
various oxide families) a remarkable correlation between this term and the
electronic specific heat is found. We argue that a dimensionless ratio relating
these two signatures of mass renormalisation contains interesting information
about the ground state of each system. The absolute value of this ratio remains
close to unity in a wide range of strongly-correlated electron systems.Comment: 15 pages, including two figure
Anomalous magnetic field dependence of the thermodynamic transition line in the isotropic superconductor (K,Ba)Bi03
Thermodynamic (specific heat, reversible magnetization, tunneling
spectroscopy) and transport measurements have been performed on high quality
(K,Ba)BiO single crystals. The temperature dependence of the magnetic field
corresponding to the onset of the specific heat anomaly presents a
clear positive curvature. is significantly smaller than the field
for which the superconducting gap vanishes but is closely related to
the irreversibility line deduced from transport data. Moreover, the temperature
dependence of the reversible magnetization present a strong deviation from the
Ginzburg--Landau theory emphasazing the peculiar nature of the superconducting
transition in this material.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 28 reference
On the low temperature properties and specific anisotropy of pure anisotropically paired superconductors
Dependences of low temperature behavior and anisotropy of various physical
quantities for pure unconventional superconductors upon a particular form of
momentum direction dependence for the superconducting order parameter (within
the framework of the same symmetry type of superconducting pairing) are
considered. A special attention is drawn to the possibility of different
multiplicities of the nodes of the order parameter under their fixed positions
on the Fermi surface, which are governed by symmetry. The problem of an
unambiguous identification of a type of superconducting pairing on the basis of
corresponding experimental results is discussed. Quasiparticle density of
states at low energy for both homogeneous and mixed states, the low temperature
dependences of the specific heat, penetration depth and thermal conductivity,
the I-V curves of SS and NS tunnel junctions at low voltages are examined. A
specific anisotropy of the boundary conditions for unconventional
superconducting order parameter near for the case of specular reflection
from the boundary is also investigated.Comment: 20 page
High temperature superconductivity (Tc onset at 34K) in the high pressure orthorhombic phase of FeSe
We have studied the structural and superconducting properties of tetragonal
FeSe under pressures up to 26GPa using synchrotron radiation and diamond anvil
cells. The bulk modulus of the tetragonal phase is 28.5(3)GPa, much smaller
than the rest of Fe based superconductors. At 12GPa we observe a phase
transition from the tetragonal to an orthorhombic symmetry. The high pressure
orthorhombic phase has a higher Tc reaching 34K at 22GPa.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure
Platelet factor-4 and its p17-70 peptide inhibit myeloma proliferation and angiogenesis in vivo
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Angiogenesis plays an important role in the development of multiple myeloma (MM). The interaction between MM cells and the bone marrow microenvironment stimulates the proliferation and migration of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) contributes to the formation of new blood vessels by actively recruiting circulating EPCs. The production of proangiogenic and antiangiogenic factors is also dysregulated in MM. Platelet factor 4 (PF4) is a potent angiostatic cytokine that inhibits angiogenesis and tumor growth in several animal models.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this study, we stably transfected human myeloma cell lines with the PF4 gene or the sequence encoding its more potent p17-70 peptide and investigated the effects of PF4 and p17-70 on angiogenesis and tumor growth <it>in vitro </it>and in a SCID-rab myeloma model.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>PF4 and p17-70 significantly attenuated VEGF production, both <it>in vitro </it>and <it>in vivo</it>. In a migration study using a Transwell system, PF4 or p17-70 markedly suppressed the migration of co-cultured human endothelial progenitor cells. PF4 or p17-70 also caused a significant reduction in microvessel densities in myeloma xenografts and markedly reduced the tumor volume in the SCID mice. Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that PF4 and p17-70 significantly extended the overall survival of SCID mice bearing human myeloma xenografts.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our findings indicate that PF4 or p17-70 could be valuable in combating multiple myeloma by disrupting tumor angiogenesis.</p
Antiferromagnetic Domains and Superconductivity in UPt3
We explore the response of an unconventional superconductor to spatially
inhomogeneous antiferromagnetism (SIAFM). Symmetry allows the superconducting
order parameter in the E-representation models for UPt3 to couple directly to
the AFM order parameter. The Ginzburg-Landau equations for coupled
superconductivity and SIAFM are solved numerically for two possible SIAFM
configurations: (I) abutting antiferromagnetic domains of uniform size, and
(II) quenched random disorder of `nanodomains' in a uniform AFM background. We
discuss the contributions to the free energy, specific heat, and order
parameter for these models. Neither model provides a satisfactory account of
experiment, but results from the two models differ significantly. Our results
demonstrate that the response of an E_{2u} superconductor to SIAFM is strongly
dependent on the spatial dependence of AFM order; no conclusion can be drawn
regarding the compatibility of E_{2u} superconductivity with UPt3 that is
independent of assumptions on the spatial dependence of AFMComment: 12 pages, 13 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
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